Gameboard and gamepiece therefor



2, 1958 R. B. WEEKS 2,847,222

GAMEBOARD AND GAMEPIECE THEREFOR Filed March 4, 1955 I 42 lllllllmazlaa zllllll 58 I, I. (64 VENTOR.

M2 5. WEEKS 62 BY W as u M F162 8.

flTTORNEV nited tates Patent GAMEBOARD AND GAMEPIECE THEREFOR Ruth B. Weeks, Wyckotf, N. 3'.

Application March 4, 1955, Serial No. 492,072

4 Claims. (Cl. 273-131) The present invention relates generally to games and more particularly to games played by placing or moving gamepieces to chosen, marked spaces on a gameboard. More specifically, the invention relates to the gamepieces used in playing such games.

In many games involving the use of gamepieces, gameboards are used having a plurality of marked spaces such as rectangles, circles and thelike. In some cases, the spaces are colored to indicate that when a player has covered a particular space in the course of his play, certaincredit or debit is to be applied to his score in that play or move. If the playing pieces, sometimes called men, are of non-transparent material, it is frequently necessary to move a previously played piece so as to be advised of the color on the board beneath it and so be able to assess a possible next play. Frequent moving of the pieces already placed on a gameboard' tends to disrupt the orderly arrangement on the board and realignment of gamepieces is often necessary.

If, to eliminate undesirable handling of the pieces, they are made of a transparent material, then the transparency may work to disadvantage in the drawing of pieces from a reserve or stock. This is the case in games where the pieces carry letters, numbers or other indicia and it is important that the players do not identify them until after they draw. When transparent gamepieces are used, disclosure of the indicia on the pieces before drawing can be avoided by keeping the reserve or stock in a high-sided container which will hide the pieces from view of all players. This practice, while effective, is most inefficient.

One object of this invention is to provide a gamepiece bearing indicia so constructed that when it is positioned on a gameboard right-side-up, its indicia and the color of the playing space beneath it can be seen readily, but, when turned bottom-side-up, the indicia cannot be seen.

Another object of this invention is to provide a game piece which is transparent but which neednot be kept out of sight to hide the indicia on it.

Another object of this invention is to provide a transparent gamepiece constructed so that its transparency will not be materially lessened with considerable use.

Another object of this invention is to provide a transparent gamepiece having reflecting means so that when the piece is placed on a playing space on a game board, the reflecting means will reflect light rays and make the color of the playing space beneath it more distinct.

Another object of this invention is to provide a transparent gamepiece having reflecting means which is protected from wear.

A further object of this invention is to provide a transparent gamepiece which bears indicia that will not de crease in clarity with use.

Still further objects of this invention are to provide gamepieces of the character described which can be easily constructed and which are easily handled when used.

:Other objects of this invention will be apparent hereinafter from the specification and from the recital of the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a top view of a transparent gamepiece constructed according to one embodiment of this invention, the gamepiece being shown resting on a playing space of a game-board, a fragmentary part of the game-board being shown;

Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the gamepiece;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. l and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section, on a greatly enlarged scale, of a gamepiece constructed according to another embodiment of this invention, the gamepiece having refleeting means around its periphery and being shown resting on a colored playing space of a game-board. Also, there is shown, diagrammatically, the lines of vision from a players eye to the playing space beneath the other optically similar material not having extreme brittlemess. The upper face 24 of body 22 has indicia 1 pressed into it and suitably blackened or colored to make it stand out. indicia 1 may take the form of a. letter, number or any other suitable symbol.

Body 22 has a depressed bottom face 26 (Fig. 3) which bears a masking element or patch M in register with the indicia 1 above it. Masking element M may be circular, as shown, or any other shape, so long as its size is slightly larger than the indicia 1. Element M is clearly visible through transparent body 22 when viewed from upper face 24 (Fig. 1). It is provided to hide from view the letter, number, symbol or other indicia on the face of the gamepiece when it is positioned in a stock or reserve bottom-side-up (Fig. 2). To meet this requirement, the element or patch M must, therefore, be opaque and it may take one of many forms. It may be a sheet material such as paper, cloth, plastic, metal foil or the like, attached to bottom face 26 by a suitable adhesive; or, it may be a paint, enamel or lacquer applied to the gamepiece bottom. Further, it may be an area of the bottom which has been roughened, crazed, etched or treated chemically to make the area opaque so as to render impossible the identification of the indicia 1 when the gamepiece is bottom-sideup, or otherwise viewed through bottom face 26.

indicia 1 and masking element M are positioned toward one end of the gamepiece, thereby providing a considerable area 28 at the opposite end of the piece free from indicia or masking. Thus, when the gamepiece is Y placed upon a playing space S on a garneboard (l, as shown in Fig. 1, the color of the playing space beneath the piece may be readily seen by looking through the transparent body 22, there being no need to move the gamepiece to see the space. Thus, the necessity for moving gamepieces on a gameboard to view playing spaces beneath gamepieces is eliminated, and, any disruption of the orderly arrangement on a board is made unnecessary.

As previously stated, the bottom face 26 of the gamepiece is depressed. This keeps opaque element M, whatever it may be, from wearing off when the gamepiece is Patented Aug. 12, 1958 used in playing a game. In some games, gamepieces are moved from one space to another. duringthe course of play. This results in sliding contact between the bottoms of the gamepieces and the surface of the gameboard, and without some provision, such asa depressed bottom surface, masking element M- would, in time, wearoff. Further, prolonged sliding contact between the.

Ofzthfi gamepiece. These depressions andresulting flanges enable a player to pick up a gamepiece with ease, since his. or her fingers. can. easilygrip the sides of the piece. Depressions 30.n1ay be usedfor-a further purpose, as shownin detail in Fig. 4, in which reference numerals and lettersv similar to those used in Figs. 1-3 indicate like parts.

In someinstances, a players-line of vision to a particular gamepiece is. not such as to readily permit looking down through the piece to the space S on the-gameboard G beneath it. Movementof his or her head, back or forward, right. or leftmight be necessary to secure a good line of vision through the gamepiece. However, the. possible need for head movement is eliminated if light-reflecting means are provided on the gamepiece. Such reflectingmeans may. be in the form of tin-foil 36 positioned in depressions30 and bonded to the sides of the. gamepiece with its reflecting side. facing inwardly. A clear, transparent adhesive, or other suitable means can be used in bonding. the foil in. place. Preferably, means is provided to. protect the reflecting material from ham-- dling wear. Such means may be in the form of an outer protectivev coating 38, of paper, plastic, fabric, paint, enamel, lacquer or other material. Coating38 will also protect the reflecting means from being damaged when the gamepiece. is in ,a storage container.

Assuming thatplaying space S. is colored to indicate scoring influence and a playeris looking at a garnepiece positioned on it, his or her line of vision will-be somewhat as shown, with E designating the players eye. For convenience, eye E is shown closerto. the gamepiece and gameboard than would be theactual case. Lines K and L indicatesome pathsof light travel from the colored surface of space Sonthe gameboard to the eye of the player. It will be obvious, that considerable area of'color on the gameboardspace S will be visible directly, that is, along lines L, all of which are bent somewhat by refraction in passing through the bodv 22 of the gamepiece. Also, it will be seen that the color on space S will be reflected, by the tin-foil 36 or other material on the side of the piece farthest from eye E,- to the eye E'of the player along lines such as indicated by K, which also are bent by refraction. The portions of reflecting material which are. onthe sides of the gamepiece, right and left of the players line of vision, and facingtoward him, serve-to. reflect light from illumination sources not directly above the gameboard upon the color of the space. S onthe-board and accentuate the players view of the space.

Ifdesired, the colored spaces or zones on thegameboard can be made of luminous material, or material of a similar optical character, in which case some portions, or all, of thereflecting material 36 can be eliminated.

In Fig. 5, there is shown a modified, transparent gamepiece construction. The top of the gamepiece is provided with depressions 40 disposed about indicia l andinward of the edges of the piece to protect from wear the portions of the surface through which the playing space beneath the, gamepiece isto be visible. Further, the sidesof the gamepiece, have grooves 42 to facilitate handling of the piece Thebottom face .26 of; the game- '4 piece is constructed as the previous pieces described, with a masking element M applied to it.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 6, the transparent gamepiece is provided with a depressed upper surface 44 formed with a recess area 46 in which is mounted an opaque masking element in the form of a wafer or disc M. Masking element M serves as a background for gamepiece indicia 1 imbedded. in it and visible from the top of the gamepiece but hidden from view when the gamepiece is turned bottom-side-up. The sides of the gamepieces also have handling grooves 42 and a recessed bottom 26.

In Fig. 7, there is shown a gamepiece made by laminating three layers of transparent material together, namely, an upper layer 50, a middle layer 52, and a bottom layer 54. The top of layer 50 is depressed at 56 and the bottom of layer 50 has indicia 1 imbedded in it. l'mbedded in the upper face of middle layer 52 is a mask M positioned so that itregisters with indicia 1 when it and layer 50 are laminatedtogether.

The dimensions of-layers- 50'and 54 are equal; but, layers 50 and 54-are-1arger than the dimensions of middle layer 52. Thus, irregular sides are formed when the gamepiece is'made, as shown, thereby permitting easy handling of the piece after construction. Further, the bottomof layer 54 is depressed at 58. This depression and the depression'56 on the top of the gamepiece protects against roughening the surfaces of the gamepiece during-use and decreasing the transparency of the material-from which thepiece is made.

The gamepiece shown in Fig. 8 is somewhat similar to-.the one shown inFig. 7, comprising, however, only two layers of transparent material laminated together, namely, layers and- 62. Layer 60 has a depressed upper surface 64 in which indicia 1 is embedded. The upper surface of'layer 62 is provided with a masking element M. suitably-applied such as by roughening an area of thesurface. The bottom 66 of layer 62 is depressed.ina manner similar to upper surface 64 for reasons heretofore. recited. The sides of the gamepiece are knurled, grooved, dimpled or otherwise marked to makezhandling of the gamepiece easier.

While the invention has beendescribed in connection with several different embodiments thereof, it will be understood that it is capable of further modification, and this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention following, in general, the principles'of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known orcustomarypractice in theart to which the invention pertains and asmayfall within the scope of the invention or the limits-of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

1'. A gamepiece comprising a body made of a material throughwhich light rays may pass, said body having an upper s'ideand a bottom side, said body bearing indicia visible from said upper side, an opaque element beneath said indicia-and registering therewith, said element beinglarger than said indicia and having an area less than the area of either saidupper or bottom sides, and reflecting means affixed to the periphery of said body and adapted to reflect light into said body.

2.-A- gamepiece comprisinga body made of a materialthrough which-light rays may pass, said body having an upper side and a bottom side, said body bearing indicia visible from said upper side, an opaque element beneath said indicia and registering therewith, said element being larger than said indicia and having an area less thanthe area of either said upper or bottom sides, and reflecting means aflixed to the periphery of said body and adapted to reflect light into said body, and means for protecting saidreflecting means from wear.

3. In combination a gameboard and at least one gamepiecefor said-gameboard, said gameboard comprising a playing surface divided into playing spaces some of" which are coated with a luminous material, said gamepiece comprising a body made of a material through which light rays may pass, said body having a bottom side, adapted to seat on said gameboard, and an upper side, said body bearing indicia which is visible from said upper side, an opaque element beneath said indicia and registering therewith, said opaque element having a size greater than that of the indicia and an area less than the area of either said upper or bottom sides of said body so that when the gamepiece lies bottom-side-up said indicia is concealed.

4. In combination a gameboard and at least one gamepiece for said gameboard, said gameboard comprising a playing surface divided into playing spaces, each of which has a size equal to the size of said gamepiece so that when the gamepiece is positioned on a particular space it will completely cover it, said gamepiece comprising a body made of a material through which light rays may pass, said body having a bottom side, adapted to seat on said gameboard, and an upper side, said body bearing indicia which is visible from said upper side, an opaque element beneath said indicia and registering therewith, said opaque element having a size greater than that of the indicia and an area less than the area of either said upper or bottom sides of said body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

